Welcome to Balamb High
by Almostpoeticgrl1
Summary: Senior year of high school, one that can be the best year of your life or worst. Squall Loire is on a mission: To date Ice Queen Rinoa Caraway. Can he thaw her icy heart? Major OOC! AU, please Review.
1. Prologue

**Authors Notes:** I wrote this a couple of years ago and decided to post it because I'd like to see how you guys like it. It's completely OOC so don't review complaining that Rinoa or Squall are so out of character because I know, I wrote them that way :-P. Actually it's kinda like their personalities are switched for this story but I'll let you see for yourself. Without further ado...

**Welcome to Balamb High**

Disclaimer: I don't own FF8, it's characters or Squaresoft or Square Enix whatever they are these days!

**Prologue**

* * *

**The girls**

"...And that is our objective for the year."

There were collective murmurs of comprehension from a group of bored teenagers as the first class bell rang. The girl who had been talking sighed, running her fingers through her shoulder length black hair as the moderately sized group of people rushed out of the door hurriedly. They seemed to have been born anew by the sound of that bell. Had she really been _that_ boring?

Two girls who hadn't exited the room in a state of unadulterated urgency walked up to her while chatting with each other.

"Another boring second term, I wish something interesting would happen."

The first girl had golden brown hair that was flipped up around the edges; she was carrying a light green backpack which accentuated bright green eyes that were typically filled with energy. She yawned and stretched her hands over her head.

"Well, at least it's our last year."

The voice that had just spoken belonged to a tall blonde haired teenager. She wore her hair in a floppy bun with two long bangs that framed her face. Her aqua colored eyes hinted a mixture of boredom as well drowsiness as she and her companion approached the black haired girl.

Feeling quite wound up already, seeing her friends faces and upon hearing the word 'boring' the girl slammed her hands noisily on a desk.

"You're wrong! Quistis, Selphie, this is going to be the best year ever! I don't care what you guys say, it will be **amazing**!"

Selphie carefully patted the girl's shoulder she knew how her friend could react it she was irritated. She shuddered inwardly,

"Don't pop a blood vessel Rinny."

Rinoa was the president of the majority of organizations on the campus, she was an honor student and her two best friends were Quistis and Selphie. She looked down at the poor desk she had just abused and sighed,

"...Sorry guy's... I guess I'm just really stressed out."

Quistis shook her head,

"I told you that being the president of so many clubs was bad for you."

Rinoa nodded tiredly letting a groan escape her lips,

"And besides that, I got a "B" in math. My parents are going to have a field day."

Selphie arched an eyebrow,

"I thought you were good in math."

Rinoa ran a hand through her dark hair and sighed again more heavily this time.

"I thought I was too..."

The girls began walking toward the door, backpacks swung over their shoulders. Quistis slowed and Rinoa turned to her.

"What's the matter?"

"Why don't you get a tutor?" Quistis asked her perfectly shaped eyebrows rising in question.

Shrugging Rinoa looked at her watch _because I don't want too. A tutor! My entire life so far and I haven't needed anyone to help me. Why should that start now?_

"I don't know. Maybe I should consider that..._not really_…**_another bell rang_**...Oh crap, we're going to be late for class!!!" 

* * *

**The boys**

"And that is our objective for the year."

Applause rang out in the small room and the guy that had been speaking bowed; he was an attractive boy; shaggy dark brown hair, a nice build, and piercing icy blue eyes. As the bell rang there were murmurs of disappointment.

"This concludes S.E.E.D club's first official meeting. At the door, Zell will hand you schedules for the term."

As students were milling out of the room a short red haired boy ran excitedly up to the speaker,

"Squall, this club is sooo **Awesome!** We get to train against **real** monsters?"

Squall nodded and patted the boy's shoulder,

"You must be new. We do this every year. The school funds us so we can get weapons and we go train. You just have to have the right connections." A slight smile shown on the elder teenager's face when the young red head beamed. "What's your name?"

"Abalkin, Lev Abalkin. I'm 13 Sir, and this is my first year here."

Squall donned a somewhat serious professional expression,

"Well Lev, I expect to see you at the next meeting."

The boy nodded,

"Yes sir!"

The boy saluted Squall before he scurried out of the room. Squall smiled and shook his head, _to be that young again._ Beginning to get lost in his thoughts he barely noticed when his friends approached him.

"This is going to be one awesome last year!"

Someone smacked Squall's back and he turned facing his friend Irvine.

Irvine was a tall boy with light brown hair tied back in a ponytail, a cowboy hat and a way with the woman. He grinned widely as he looked over the club schedule.

Beside him walked up Zell, a short blonde with a tattoo covering the side of his face. Zell frowned slightly.

"Are you guys sure we won't get in trouble?"

Irvine stared blankly at their friend.

"Are you kidding me? We've been doing this every year. Plus the principal has hots for Squall so we're safe."

"Just 'cuz principal Kramer likes Squall doesn't mean we might not get in trouble for taking underclassmen to a high level training center. Someone might get hurt, someone—"

Irvine sighed wistfully, paying no attention to the blonde haired teenager,

"Lucky dog! Principal Edea Kramer is such a babe!"

Squall chuckled getting his stuff together,

"We'll train them well, no one's going to get hurt Zell. Besides, I think we should end the year with a bang! Fighting T-Rexars, there's no better way!"

Hesitantly Zell nodded before glancing at his watch,

"If you say so…Uh, we'd better get to class." 

* * *

**So, how was it? Did you enjoy it? Did you hate it? Do you want to throw rocks at me because I posted this story? (Whimpers and ducks head behind a table) Please tell me what you thought in the form of a review, unless it's a flame...(makes a cross sign) Then I don't want it. **

**Hope to hear from you guys soon and if you want to read one of my stories that's not OOC check out High Tide!**

**-Almostpoeticgrl1 :-P**


	2. A Beginning to Everything

**Disclaimer:** Nope, don't on squat, not Final Fantasy 8, not Square_whatever _not Squall, Rinoa…Not the poem "The Master Artist", or "Mary Had a Little Lamb!" I own nothing! Nothing! You hear me?!

**A/N**: Ok this chapter has gone through some **MAJOR** revisions. Memo to myself: don't post a fic when it's five o clock in the morning and you haven't slept at all! Grammatical errors and misspellings are a pain in the you-know-what!

**Update 1/2/07 A/N:** And** THANK** you _Scrappy101_ for the lovely "check your spelling comment"! (evil glare) lol. I'm just kidding, you know I love ya kid:-D Thanks for letting me know where some errors were!

**Welcome to Balamb High Chapter 2: A Beginning to Everything

* * *

**

As the final bell rang everyone in Professor Nakamura's Advanced Calculus class took their seats. Squall sat beside Rinoa.

_He had always liked Rinoa; ever since kindergarten, after all she was smart and beautiful. He noted that she tended to be quite the workaholic, and somewhat withdrawn but it was the differences between the both of them that attracted him to her. He wanted to get to know her better, and his friends were surprised when he stated that he had wanted to date her; the resident Ice Queen of Balamb High. She had never had a boyfriend, or dated. Not that she hadn't been asked. The last guy that had tried to ask her out left school early crying. But, Squall was drawn to her, he couldn't help himself, she was mysterious, she was unsolvable, and unlike most girls at the school hadn't flung herself at him, he would date her this year. _

_Unfortunately, there was a small problem in his brilliant plan,,. You see, Rinoa hated him. She loathed him. Ever since he could remember she called him an arrogant, idiotic, prick. Well, all the more incentive to reach his goal. He loved challenges. _

Scooting a little closer to her, Squall cleared his throat getting her attention. She turned to him,

"What?" She whispered irritably _this is not the best time to be bothered, especially by Squall Loire. _He merely pointed at her paper.

"You're doing the problem wrong."

Rinoa glared at the brown haired boy next to her.

"Shut up! What would you know..."

Squall pointed to his own work,

"Well, see the 2 goes-"

"Shut up!" She hissed, "I know what I'm doing!"

Squall shrugged,

"Suit yourself, but it's wro-"

"Shut up!" This time she caught the attention of some of her fellow classmates. Rolling her eyes she gripped her pencil tightly, focusing her attention back to the teacher's lecture.

The teenage male to her left just smiled internally_, she's cute when she's angry._

The professor looked up at Rinoa,

"Ms. Caraway, what is the quotient to problem fifteen?"

She looked her paper over,

"36." She stated confidently.

The professor looked over his notes,

"…No, I'm sorry, that is incorrect," Squall raised his hand. "Mr. Loire?"

"The quotient is 57."

"That is correct Squall."

Squall grinned at Rinoa and she glared back at him.

"Lucky guess?" He replied sheepishly.

_Great way to start off my day..._ Rinoa thought irritably. Thinking back to the morning's club meeting she turned to Squall again, a question in her mind.

"Squall, where were you at this morning's meeting? You are vice president after all."

He just shrugged.

"I had another appointment."

Rinoa rolled her eyes,

"Well, it would be in your best interest _not _to miss another meeting."

Squall nodded indifferently and the teacher spoke up,

"I will be passing back your exams today, the one's you did before the break, if you have any comments do not hesitate to ask me."

The professor walked around handing back the papers and then sat down at his desk. Rinoa looked sick as she looked over her paper. Squall glanced at her,

"Bad grade? I would've thought better from you."

"...Shut up..."

But instead of sounding irritated she sounded drained.

Squall looked at her his icy blue eyes concerned,

"Are you alright?"

She thrust her paper in his lap. He looked at it,

"**_D" It looks like you need some help with the material._**

"...Oh…"

Rinoa looked as if she were about to cry and the young man felt bad for teasing her, he looked up from her paper.

"...It's ok...I mean I'm, sure ...It's just one test...you could always get some help."

That earned a glare in response and she snatched her paper out of his hands.

"Damnit, I've always done well in this class, and now..."

Squall shrugged,

"Everybody has their bad tests, hell, I've had my share. Don't beat yourself up about it."

Shaking her head she sighed,

"It's not that easy. My parents look at every one of my tests; I told them I had one before the break... I bet they're expecting this one."

Squall scratched his head,

"Well...I'll switch my test with your's, our handwriting is practically the same and if my parents saw my grade they wouldn't care."

Rinoa scowled at him,

"What'd you get, a "D+"?"

" ...Oh don't be sarcastic..." He smugly showed her his paper.

"**_A+" Good job_! **

_How in the hell did HE get an 'A'!? _

Reading her mind or maybe her facial expression Squall said,

"It's not as if I'm dumb. You know, laziness and stupidity aren't the same thing."

"But you sleep in class!"

"Before I sleep I take notes. Did I mention I have photographic memory?"

Rinoa glared at him,

"Urg! Whatever!"

"Look, why don't we switch?"

"Papers?"

He nodded easily, "It'd be in_ your_ best interest."

She thought it over for a moment mulling over the possibilities.

"What will they think when they find out I have a 'B' in the class? Straight A's on tests and a different grade in the class don't add up."

Squall side smiled,

"If you want, I could tutor you. I do have straight A's, and besides that, I rank number one in the school, after me you rank second."

_Urgg! So arrogant, I rank number 1 in the school, after me you rank second. Urggg! I hate him!!!_

"I'd rather swallow someone's feces then have _you_ tutor me."

Her rival shrugged,

"The offer still stands if you want to take it up."

The bell rang and he left. 

* * *

Rinoa was very irritable that day.

"Urggg!!! He has the nerve to say...URGG!!! **Him** tutoring me?! Urgg!!

Quistis and Selphie exchanged nervous glances.

"Why do you hate him so much? He seems like a nice guy to me." Quistis observed timidly.

Rinoa thought about that for a moment.

_I hate him because he's so cocky, he thinks just because he's good looking he can get anyone to like him and… Urgg, I can't stand anyone who can top me in rank by not even trying! Here I am working my butt off and I get second ranking in the school, that's impossible!!...But he did get cuter this year and those eyes...Urggg no! What am I thinking?! He is the worst! An arrogant, selfish, self-absorbed freaking prick!!! I hate him I hate him I hate him!!!_

Just then Squall and his friends walked up.

"Rinoaaa, why do you hate me sooo? I just want to help you out."

At the sound of the deep sing song voice she rolled her eyes. The raven haired girl turned around and there was Squall standing beside her, Irvine and Zell at his sides.

"Stop being so immature and quit whining! Leave me alone!!" Her words sounded of pure venom.

_She must be having a rough day. _Squall thought nodding wordlessly to her; he loved to tease her but, today wasn't the day.

"Hey Selphie."

Irvine winked at Selphie who blushed in return. Selphie had a big time crush on Irvine. She smiled bashfully,

"Hi Irvine."

"You are getting more and more beautiful every term I see you. All you ladies are." He shot her a smile and Rinoa swore she saw Selphie melt into a puddle of goo on the ground. Quistis just rolled her eyes.

"Anyone know if it's hot dog day in the cafeteria today?"

The group shrugged and Zell frowned. "I really want some hot dogs…"

Squall turned to Rinoa and in a low voice whispered in her ear,

"I can help you if you're worried about Calculus. No one has to know if that's how you'd prefer it. I promise I will help you. The tutoring will be strictly student to student."

What had he meant by that? Squall didn't like her and she defiantly didn't have a crush on him. It repulsed her to think about it.

He slipped a piece of paper in her hand, nodded to the girls and motioned for his friends. Irvine's attention was elsewhere this time in the form of a red haired cheerleader as he tried to make the moves on her.

"You are getting more and more beautiful every term I see you."

Rinoa stared blankly at her hand as Squall and Zell walked away dragging Irvine with them.

"Man, I was just about to get a phone number!" They heard him yell before they walked out of sight.

Quistis whistled, "Wow, those guys get better looking each year."

"Especially Irvine..." Selphie smiled dreamily, "If he'd just ask me to prom…"

Quistis rolled her eyes again glancing at Rinoa,

"I was thinking…We've never had boyfriends before and I think we should get some before the school year ends. It'd be a great...Learning experience…"

Selphie giggled,

"You're just saying that because you like that new exchange student Seifer Almasy."

The blonde's cheeks turned bright red but she shook her head vehemently,

"I do **not** like him!"

"Yea you do. Why are you turning red huh?"

This caused Quistis to begin to walk away but Selphie quickly latched herself onto her arm. That girl had some fast reflexes.

"I'm just kidding Quisty!"

Rinoa paid little attention to her friends instead wondering what was written in the note that Squall had given her.

_Bing, Bing_

_She'd look at it later on. _The bell rang signaling the next class.

"I'll see you guys after school ok?" Rinoa waved halfheartedly to her friends before she made her way to her next class, English. 

* * *

Poetry… she hated poetry. The raven haired teenager stared at her blank sheet of paper with an equally blank mind. _And she would have to present what she wrote?_

"Writers block?"

Snapping her out of her "state of concentration" was a deep voice; she looked over to its owner and was faced with an attractive boy. He had bleached blonde hair that was combed back, and his pale blue green eyes surveyed her closely, beginning to make her uncomfortable.

"Don't _you_ have a poem to write?"

He blinked shocked at her harsh comment but began to smirk at her.

"Attitude. Why don't you write about that?"

"You think I'm going to take advice from you? Who are you anyway?"

The boy continued to smirk at her, he liked her fiery attitude.

"Seifer Almasy." He held a hand out and hesitantly she took it, his big one easily engulfing her own. His hand was rough, calloused and warm, and she let go of it quickly feeling strange flip flops in her stomach.

She began to get back to thinking of a poem when Seifer laid a muscular arm on her desk pinning her pen and paper in the process.

"Hey—"

"You didn't tell me your name." He stated simply still staring at her with that smirk.

She rolled her eyes,

"Fine. I'm Rinoa Caraway. Now can I get back to my work?"

"Sure," He removed his arm from her desk but still looked at her with interest, "Nice to meet you Rinoa."

"Alright it's time to read what you've written." The teacher interrupted and she gasped. She hadn't written anything! This day was just getting worse and worse. Suddenly Seifer slid a piece of paper onto her desk. She eyed him curiously,

"What's--?"

"Just read it." He ordered as the teacher called his name.

"Mr. Almasy, will you read your poem for us please?"

Seifer stood looking at all of the students around him coolly, he began to speak,

"Mary had a little lamb

Its fleece was white with snow,

And everywhere that Mary went

The lamb was sure to—"

The class roared with laughter and Rinoa noticed the teacher's face getting red.

"Seifer! Sit down! And you will see me after class!" After she finished barked irritably the teacher snapped at the class to 'settle down' and Seifer smiled and bowed before sitting down.

"Ms. Caraway will you read us your poem?"

Looking at the blonde haired boy, she shot him a curious glance but he just winked at her. Hesitantly Rinoa stood, tucked some of her hair behind her ear and began to read from the paper Seifer had given her.

"I watched a sunset one lovely summer day. I watched as the sun went slowly away.  
Leaving behind colors of gorgeous hue, shining there on the sky so blue.  
Watching the sunset that summer day made me realize that along my way,  
Hyne makes His greatness plain in his own way,  
Like sunsets, flowers and trees, winding rivers, deep blue seas,  
silvery moon and twinkling stars.  
All of these more lovely by far than any human could make them.  
Scenes so beautiful no artist could paint, to create such beauty, human being just can't.  
For Hyne is the artist, the master, you see, creating such a beauty for you and me.  
Autumn's Invitation Autumn is in her glory

All dressed in her beautiful ball gown,  
Designed in the lovely fall colors  
Of hues of red, green, and brown.

Autumn is having a party,  
All are invited to come  
And join in the gay festivities,  
Held in the autumn sun. All are invited to walk in gardens  
on all the hills and vales,  
And enjoy the blaze of vivid  
tints and fragrances

On all the hills and dales. She has her sky a clear bright blue,  
Her breezes are balmy too,  
Making the weather just right  
For each guest to enjoy the things they do. So won't you attend her party?  
Autumn is inviting you,  
Come and enjoy the hospitality  
That autumn offers you."

Applause rang out in the class room as Rinoa sat down.

"That was beautiful Rinoa. You are quite a poet." The teacher said smiling warmly at her. She nodded wordlessly, still staring at the paper in her hands.

Slowly she turned to Seifer but to her disappointment he wasn't paying attention to her, instead focusing back on the teacher. She didn't say anything until the class bell rang.

Looking at the blonde Rinoa tapped him on the shoulder, he had been reading from a book.

"Yea?"

"Um…Thanks, I mean, why'd you do that?"

He shrugged nonchalantly but his blue green eyes bored into her with a curious twinkle. She felt butterflies in her stomach but smiled slightly at him.

"Thanks Seifer. Thanks A lot."

"Mr. Almasy, come here please." The teacher spoke sternly after most of the students had deserted the class. Seifer smirked closing his book and rising from his desk.

"Looks like my princess awaits."

With that he walked off. Rinoa shook her head a small smile displayed on her lips as the man walked off.

Finally she grabbed her belongings and walked out of the classroom; finally the school day was over.

* * *

**Yes, if you've read this chapter before I have changed it a lot. **

**For you Squinoa fans out there yea this kinda seemed like a SeiferXRinoa chapter towards the end but this story is a Squinoa! **

**And you know a little love triangle wouldn't hurt…much…(laughs evilly).**

**Well please review (I'd like to know what you guys think) and the third chapter will be up soon!**

**Also, thank you CallmeAZN, dole pwnz0rs los trombonez0rs, CrazyTurkey, and Scrappy101 for your kind reviews! The story will go on! Yay I don't have to join the Circus!**

**-Almostpoeticgrl1 :-P**


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